Sector Spotlight: Kevin Doherty, Dispatch Supervisor

For our first Sector Spotlight on Aquaculture, we hear from Kevin Doherty, Dispatch Supervisor at Cooke Aquaculture Scotland’s Orkney Packing Station (OPS). OPS are responsible for processing, packing and distributing superior whole Orkney farmed salmon to suppliers locally, nationally and internationally.

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--Can you describe a typical day in your role as Dispatch Supervisor?
First thing, before processing starts, I will upload the day’s orders and the harvest code to our internal CoolEarth systems. Once production has started, I will supervise the pallet rooms and dispatch to make sure everyone is carrying out their duties. If there are changes to the orders, I will alter these in the system and let everyone know of the changes. We unload trailers of empty boxes daily to free up space for the pallets of fish, and this is usually done between the dispatch and yard staff. Once the day’s processing is complete, I will make sure there are no loose cases in the system, send off all paperwork and emails and ship all products, then clean down before going home.
 
--How did you end up in this role?
I started off in the pallet room before progressing to supervisor, then moved out into the dispatch. Eventually, after learning from the dispatch supervisor, I took more responsibility upon myself, and when COVID hit and we had to split the workforce in two, I was put in charge of one of the shifts on opposite sides to my supervisor. Then the supervisor stepped up to assistant manager position to aid the manager, and this enabled me to take full control of the dispatch supervisor role. He then went on to take full control of the manager’s role.
 
--What is the best thing about your job?
The best things about my job are that I’m in charge of a small group of eight staff, and we can all work together to help get through the process as best and efficiently as we can. I enjoy that once we are finished processing and cleaning we can go home, there is no set time to finish. Also, we have a great bonus scheme, which should push all staff to do their best in the job. The guaranteed hours are great, and we have a good company pension scheme in place as well.
 
--What is the worst thing about your job?
Having two kids and a wife that works opposite shifts can be challenging when we do not know what time we will finish processing - when we get busier with staff shortages and more fish at a bigger size, or we have breakdowns with plant machinery, etc.
 
--What skills do you need to undertake your role?
Since I started working at the age of 16 and was put into a supervisor’s role at 17, I learned early how to work within a team, how to give guidance and lead by example, as well as how to communicate well and train new staff. Also problem solving and dealing with issues. I have taken part in plenty of training courses and done lots of online training over the past 20 years or so that were required within my supervisor roles. With my role now, I’m constantly in communication with our sales team and transport companies via email, chat and telephone. I also order a lot of our stock, so I will contact suppliers through email and telephone as well.
 
--What qualifications do you have?
I have completed SVQ level 2 and 3 Food and Drink, Intermediate Food Hygiene, First Aid and Defibrillator training, and Forklift training. I have also completed many smaller courses at work.
 
--Would you recommend this job to young people? If so, why?
I would certainly recommend the job to young folk leaving school wanting to experience full time employment. The managers and supervisor team are very welcoming and are all for helping the staff, which is a great initiative to start a new job. Within the factory the staff look out for each other and would help new starts to fit in. There are more positives than negatives to working for Cooke in my mind.

Visit Cooke Aquaculture Scotland on:
 
Website:  https://cookeaquaculturescotland.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/cookeaqua
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/CookeScotland